Note: every writer writes differently. What works for one writer may not work for another. Trust your gut.
One of the most common questions I’m asked is how I manage to write so much whilst seemingly also having, y’know, a life.
Usually, I find this question quite funny, because I never really considered myself a prolific writer, not until recently, anyway. I used to write one-thousand to two-thousand words every day, which usually took me two or three hours. To me, that wasn’t really a lot. If anything, I felt guilty for not spending more time writing than I did. ‘If I could spend five hours writing, I’d get five-thousand words written per day…’
But two things made me resist my target.
Firstly, it’s because I was doing what I was told by other writers too much.
Allow me to elaborate: every corner of the web you visit (bar a few. How many corners does the web have, actually?), you’ll find advice on what a ‘respectable’ amount of words per day is. I think the most common upper word limit, we can safely agree, is one-thousand words. For some reason, one-thousand words per day appears to be some sort of holy grail for writers. Anything higher, and the writer is either a.) rushing, or b.) writing crap.
By digesting all of this advice, we kind of start to believe it a little, which is what was highly frustrating to me. I was finishing my 1k per day in just over an hour and, because of the cauldron of rights and wrongs on the internet, actually felt a little guilty for writing any longer. I was, quite simply, a little bored.
The second reason I resisted my pursuit for 5k per day is because five solid hours at a desk sounds like a hell of a long time. There’s no way my creative juices could solidly run for that long, I believed.
I was wrong. Well, kind of.
I could give you a list of ‘this is what you should dos’, but I won’t because I think that when ingested, that kind of advice can be bad for your health. Instead, I just want to introduce you to a few productivity methods that can see you hitting the thousands by lunchtime.
That’s right. A whole afternoon off to catch up on whatever crap’s on Netflix these days.
Bear in mind I’m talking about first draft words here. Not rewriting. That’s a different matter for another post. However, these techniques can be used everywhere. But anyway…
1.) The Pomodoro Technique
You may or may not have heard of the Pomodoro Technique. I hadn’t up until a couple of weeks ago, but since I’ve started implementing it, my daily wordcount has doubled, and I feel refreshed and a sense of achievement because of it.
Basically, the Pomodoro Technique is this: you set a timer for twenty-five minutes and you do whatever task it is you want to do (in our case, writing). You work solidly on that task for twenty-five minutes, and then when the time is up, you take a five minute break, no matter what. Nip to the loo, refill your glass of water — Pomo’ don’t discriminate.
Then, you repeat the cycle again. After four full cycles, you take a longer break.
Can you see how beneficial this is to writing? I usually start writing somewhere around ten-thirty in the morning. I complete a few cycles and then take a lunch break. On a good day, I’ll have a couple thousand words written by the time I take lunch. On a great (read: early start) day, I’ll have hit 5k already.
The best thing about it is, because it breaks your work up into smaller chunks, you don’t feel as drained as you would do if you’d spent several solid hours. My productivity method used to be this: wait for the clock to hit the hour and then write until that hour is up. But it was a poor method, in hindsight — I regularly got distracted and my words per hour were nowhere near as high as I know they can be.
Another bonus? Maybe you do only have twenty-five minutes per day, but with the Pomodoro Technique, you can turn those twenty-five minutes into a goldmine of productivity. Do you have twenty-five minutes per day? Then you can finish a novel in eighty days. How’s that sound?
You can purchase various apps or visit websites for the Pomodoro Technique. I use an app called Focus Time. The official website is well worth visiting too. I mean, those little tomatoes look awesome, and I’d definitely have one if I wasn’t such a digital geek.
The Pomodoro Technique has helped me realise my potential. It really is as simple as that.
2.) White Noise
I used to write with no music, and then I went to university and realised I was kidding myself in thinking I’d get a moment of peace there. My experience of writing with music has always been hit and miss. Sometimes, it really suits the project (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ soundtrack work was perfect for my creepy novella, The Painting), but often, I just find myself distracted.
Enter: white noise. There isn’t really much exciting to say about white noise, to be honest, other than it’s great for blocking the outside world out. Now, I use it all the time, whether it’s quiet outside (it usually is — I live in the countryside nowadays) or not. It’s become a part of my productivity regime, and for that, I salute it.
I usually listen to this clip on my iPad. It’s free, and it’s pretty much endless, so it fits the bill.
3.) A Writing Tracker
I’m a sucker for keeping track of myself. I used to have so many of those days where I don’t feel like I’ve done as much as I actually have, so I realised I needed to create something to keep myself in check.
Now, I have a spreadsheet. I know, I know — I hate spreadsheets too, or at least I did. Now, I kind of love the things. All I have is columns for the date, hours written, word count for that session, and then two extra columns for the daily total hours and words.
It’s a great way of keeping track of things you might not initially be aware of. For example, I used to be convinced I was a late night writer, but my 10pm to 10.25pm total was short of my earlier average. I was wrong about my own habits.
I’d really recommend setting up a spreadsheet as basic as mine. It’s heartening to see a novel’s wordcount grow, and provides you with plenty of motivation to continue.
4.) Freedom App
I’ve discussed Freedom in the past. Sick of being distracted by social media? Is researching your novel getting in the way of the actual writing of your novel? Then Freedom App could be for you.
Again, nothing overly exciting here: you key in a time and it blocks your internet for that number of time. The only way you can access the net is if you restart your computer, which for a lazy slob like me, isn’t worth the effort.
Freedom is available for Mac, and I believe there is a Windows version these days, too.
5.) A Folded Up Bolton Wanderers Ticket
‘Cause Apple’s Pages in full screen mode still doesn’t give the option to hide wordcount whilst writing, I have to do it that manual way. Damn them!
Yeah, I don’t like seeing my wordcount. If I’m checking my wordcount, I’m not focused. Don’t fall victim to the wordcount. Buy a Bolton Wanderers ticket. We could do with the extra fans.
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I hope you’ve enjoyed this post! An update on the fiction front: mailing list and Twitter followers will already be receiving details on the launch of my new novel, Killing Freedom. I’ll be blogging about that tomorrow, but if you can’t wait…
http://www.twitter.com/RyanCaseyBooks — s’all on there. This rollout launch is part of a bigger strategy too. You’ll see! I hope.
Ryan.
Image courtesy of AndyRobertsPhotos via Flickr.
Great points, Ryan. I think the key here is experimenting until you find what works for YOU, then go with it. Personally, I could never write with a timer going, that would make my anxiety levels go through the roof. LOL
Will, I couldn’t agree more! That’s why I’m always keen to say, ‘this is just ONE way of doing it’. I always find it somewhat discouraging when advice seems to suggest there’s only one way. Great tip.
As for the timer, my anxiety beats the hell out of me for twenty-five minutes, but it’s usually worth it at the end. 😉
“On a good day, I’ll have hit 5k already.”
Pfffft. You lazy sod. 😉
William Wallace Cook, who published at the turn of the last century, wrote two 33K stories a week over several months. The advice in his book “The Fiction Factory,” was adopted lock, stock and barrel by another writer, Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator of Perry Mason.
(You are correct, of course. I just came across a book on Gardner’s methods, “Secrets of the World’s Best-Selling Writer,” and had to share.)
Two 33K stories a week! Wow, I think I might have to challenge Cook some day. 😉
I’ll have to check out Gardner’s book — I’m always keen to check out new reference books.
Great tips, Ryan. I have a full-time day job, so sometimes finding time to write is tough. I generally come in a half-hour before work so I can do some writing. And I eat my lunch at my desk and write during that time. Of course, it’s hard not to be distracted by phone calls and emails when I’m on my lunch break but I still average about 1,200 words per day with this schedule.
I haven’t tried breaking it down into shorter increments of time. I’ll give that a shot and see how it works.
Thanks, Merrill. I absolutely know where you are coming from in balancing the day job with the writing time. It’s tough! I think the important thing (and something Pomodoro proves) is to try and find those half hour spots scattered throughout the day. They really do add up.
1,200 per day is great. That’s, what, a full first draft in less than two months? Good on you!
Best of luck breaking it into shorter increments. It works for me, hope you find the same success. Keep in touch with your results!
Call it synchronicity, but I just heard about the Pomodoro Technique–from my hubby, an IT guy, no less–a couple days ago. I thought about using it for my day job, but not for writing. I will have to try it.
I haven’t had much luck writing to music; I find it too distracting. I love writing outside, though. Since so many of my stories are inspired by nature, it makes sense to be surrounded by the great outdoors while I write. It provides a great soundtrack. Now you’ve got me thinking about having some nature sounds in the background on days when I have to write inside. 🙂
It’s a sign, Denise! The pomodoros are everywhere…
And yeah, nature sounds will no doubt be effective. I agree regarding music — sometimes it works for me, but more often than not, it just gets in the way. If I am to listen to music, it has to be soundtrack work.
You’ve provided some awesome tips here, Ryan. Writing style is one factor that determines how fast you can write. Since my style tends to be more literary, I write slower than most authors and sometimes envy the speed of a conversational style.
Glad I could help, Janalyn. I agree: writing style definitely influences pace. Regardless, I hope some of these tips come in handy for your writing too!
Ryan, I agree 100%. I’m very prolific, writing on average 12k per day when I’m working on new projects, and have long since set my worries about speed to the wayside.
When I trained to be a journalist, speed was essential, as was writing quickly as a screenwriter. So why do we think books are different? With proper planning, focus and organization (not to mention trust in your ability), speed is just another tool in a writer’s arsenal.
I, too, listen to white noise, though I do write in one hour bouts–they just seem to work best for me. The key, I think, is ignoring convention and finding what flows for you, as an individual, tweaking the process until it fits like a glove.
Best of luck in your work 😀
12k per day! That’s seriously impressive — great job.
Speed should definitely be considered a writing tool. Really, it’s absurd to think that the longer spent writing a first draft, the better a novel should be. If anything, a first draft will be much tighter in voice and tone when written over a shorter period of time!
One hour bouts are something I wish I could do, but I’m just too distractible. Glad it works for you, though. Good luck right back at you!
I’ve been slacking on my word count, going to use this tonight. I used to use a spreadsheet as well, may need to dust that off too. Thanks for the advice!
That’s the spirit — get that spreadsheet dusted off! It really can help. Best of luck. 🙂
Interesting! I’m going to have to try this, but the white noise would end up with something broken! I’m sharing with a friend who I think would greatly benefit from this from a health point of view! She forgets to eat while writing or editing and she’s always doing one or the other.
Ha, the white noise isn’t for everyone! I hope your friend enjoys the piece. Five minutes here and there (as well as longer half hour break after four pomodoro cycles) can really with organisation, eating, etc.
Hey Ryan,
great post, I’ve been slipping productivity wise and dealing with the vicious guilt cycle that accompanies that! Im off to get freedom etc, about time I think. By the by, have you heard of Scrivener? It changed my life as a writer. Plus it creates its own epub versions as well. I would hands down say that it was the best 30 quid i ever spent.
Thanks, Kit! I have heard of Scrivener (I have a copy of it in my hard drive, in fact), and plan to start using it with my current WIP. It looks like something that will take a lot of time to get used to, but every writer I know who does use it say they wouldn’t even consider MS Word/Pages after using it. Looking forward to getting into it!
Its actually really quick to make the change! Promise. And oh the joy of not having to scroll through an entire document to find the part you need… Also, which you might like, with your tracking habits, it lets you track by wordcount, make a goal, like Nanowrimo. Let us know when you make the change!
Thank you! I will try the The Pomodoro Technique. I like Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die! I am aiming for 2,000 a day (to re-write & edit my novel). I love using bristol boards on my wall and cue/index cards – I like to have a bird’s eye view on things. I have been considering getting Writer’s Blocks software. I write more when I have less stress about organization. And thank you Kit for suggesting Scrivener, it looks interesting!
Cheers, Hannah — I’ll take a look at Write or Die. 2K per day is a great target, so definitely go for it. I don’t edit as I write, so you’re covering a fair bit of ground by doing that. And yes, thanks to Kit for suggesting Scrivener — good tip!
My hubby is on board and doubled his production that last week. Now he’s advocating I get on board. More later…
Ryan – thanks for sharing your ideas. The Pomodoro Technique sounds like an excellent writing tool. I might have to use a silent timer though. Anything that ticks would drive me to distraction! I wonder if there’s an app for that…
I am restricted to evenings for my writing, but I will be trying this technique tonight. Forcing oneself to sit down for the next available hour-and-a-half is very offputting. But twenty-five to thirty minutes at a time? Definitely do-able.
I would recommend Scrivener to anyone who is considering it. Sure, the tutorial takes a little time, but that applies to learning anything new. And it walks you through the process, holding your hand all the way – not like an instruction manual at all.
I tried this last night, downloading a free countdown timer onto my desktop and setting it for 29 minutes. Instead of procrastinating, I got three bursts of writing / editing completed…almost 90 minutes of work! On two occasions, I just kept going because I didn’t want to stop. Thanks Ryan!
Andrew,
Brilliant! Delighted to hear it is working for you. It really is effective, right?
I felt fresher, less tied to the (hotel) desk and eager to get back to it. I had to force myself to walk around before I gave myself permission to continue. What a difference!
You have saved my life! A urgent project was dropped in my lap more or less out of nowhere. 30,000 words, four days. Thanks to your post (I’d never heard of the Pomodoro Technique before, either) I was able to write 10,000 words every day, in a workday’s time (so about 7 hours): that means free nights, which equals the chance to unwind and wake up refreshed for more writing in the morning. And, I had one extra day to review the whole thing! Thank you so much for posting this one!
Thanks for the tips! Got to write 15,000 words in 3 days! Hopefully will make it! Shall try your method. I don’t like the white noise though, somewhat irritating. I prefer nice music instead!
Hi eddy,
Glad the advice works for you. I rarely hit 5k a day, but I know that with these methods I totally could.
Good luck going forward.
Great post! I used to get too distracted by music while writing, but I switched to Mozart and it’s been huge. The so-called Mozart Effect is controversial (i.e., the idea that listening to Mozart improves focus and turns you into a sort of genius), but I swear by it. At the very least, it’s trained me like a dog to write whenever I hear those notes.
Thank you for writing this! 🙂 I have been writing a good 2,000 words per night for my new novel & I recently had someone tell me that I was rushing things… it was not only jarring, but surprising that they thought they were an authority on how another writer should operate. I’d honestly be one to take advice from any writer who was typing up 5,000 words per day. Good work! I’m happy I found this post. ;D
Nice advice, Ryan. I do all of those things and can testify to their effectiveness. Actually I don’t do the Bolton Wanderers one. Would a West Ham ticket suffice?
I find it funny that while writing a book which will mention BW FC. I have gotten here. Small world.